Electric vehicles periodically need charging. Currently, the most common place to charge an electric vehicle is at home. In that case, the cost of the required electricity is reflected on the homeowner's electric bill.
A limited number of public charging stations is also available. When charging at these stations, the cost of electricity to the consumer is zero. However, the electricity must still be purchased from an electric power utility. Given the economics, it is not surprising that there are so few of these public charging stations.
An obvious solution is to maintain a public charging station in which the owner of the electric vehicle actually pays for the electricity would not be difficult to implement. After all, it is known to provide a current meter or similar device to measure current. And one can simply couple a credit card reader to such a device to accept payment for the electricity consumed. This, after all, is how the problem is solved at gas stations.
Unfortunately, the economics of charge delivery are not amenable to such a solution. For one thing, one can fill a car with gasoline in a matter of minutes. In contrast, it can take hours to fully charge an electric vehicle. In addition, gasoline tends to be more expensive than electricity. Thus, the revenue per fuel delivery device would be lower for an electrical charging station than it would be for a gasoline pump.
The obvious solution is to raise the cost of charging at a public charging station until it makes economic sense to maintain such a station. However, the ready availability of residential electricity constrains the price elasticity of publicly delivered. In contrast, one cannot save money by simply filling up a car at home with gasoline.
The ironic result is that the low cost of electricity as a fuel source eliminates virtually any economic incentive to maintain public electrical charging stations in which charge can be delivered for a fee. This, in turn, hinders the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
Clearly, some system and method is needed to enhance the economic viability of public charging stations. Such a system would encourage widespread availability of low-cost public electrical charging stations. This, in turn, will ignite greater demand for electric vehicles.